HAZE:
by DabbleDabble
Summary: Set after Captain America: Winter Soldier, this story follows Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner (Hulk), as they go up against a lethal enemy with a killer endgame. Romance, action, drama, humour and superheroes, what more could you want?
1. Chapter 1

HAZE

Chapter One

Weeks had past, and there had been no sign of Bucky. Steve revved his motorcycle as he pulled into the parking lot of the grand hotel. He'd had a few too many glasses of rum. He wasn't quite himself, he did know one thing though. Something inside him wouldn't let him rest. It wouldn't leave him alone. His usual logical state, his pristine judgement, his clean conscience, had been compromised.  
He was here tonight, to finally give in. Romanov was staying on the thirty-third floor. He had spent days tracking her down. Endless hours. He headed into the hotel, the guards gave him a nod and let him inside. He was a handsome man, the world opened up doors for good looking people. Though his attractiveness had been somewhat artificially augmented, his presence still commanded respect wherever he went. He wondered how she was doing, he had wondered from time to time, and that's why he was here tonight. This wasn't like him. This wasn't the sort of thing he did, nor was it the sort of man he was. He shook his head, he just needed closure. He needed to know, to understand, what it was being near her did to him. He thought he had fallen in love before but he wasn't sure. Was it lust? Natasha was a gorgeous woman. An attractive one. One who was trying to better herself. He hadn't been able to think clearly since she left Washington D.C. that day.  
He wondered if it was the rum thinking, it probably was. He slowed down as he approached the hotel room door. He pressed his forehead against it. He was a nobody here in Hawaii. And so was she. He suspected that was why she chose it. To disappear.  
He noticed the door click open, he opened his eyes to find Natasha staring up at him.  
"Steve?" She asked, incredulously.  
He gazed at her, she frowned, slightly bemused.  
"Why're you looking at me like that?" Then asked, "What're you doing here?" He slipped his satchel onto the ground and spoke gently.  
"I know you wanted to disappear, but I needed to ..." His eyes lingered on hers, then drifted down to her lips.  
"I just..." he was at a loss for words, instead of trying to express himself he stepped forward and kissed her slowly at first. She cupped his face, but pulled out of the kiss, her nose grazed his, "you taste like rum," she whispered. He groaned at the sound of her voice, it was like velvet.  
_BANG!_ The wooden door splintered beside them, Steve ducked, covering Natasha instinctively.  
Natasha caught a glimpse of two men with shotguns. They marched down the corridor toward her door.  
"They followed you here." Natasha said, annoyed. Steve was too drunk to be of much use.  
"Follow me!" she ordered. She grabbed his arm and led him out the window and down the fire escape. Several shots rang out from the hotel room.  
"This way." Steve instructed, he led them to the parking lot. "WAIT...!" She cried out, spotting a red light on the back of his bike. She pulled him back just as the motorbike exploded.  
"Oh...this is bad." Steve said. If he wasn't adorable when drunk, she would have been furious right now. He had jeopardised them both. Whatever his reasons for tracking her down, he had done it without realising he was being followed.  
"We're better off on foot. I know a place, come on." Natasha said. She cast a glance back at the shotgun wielding henchman who clambered down the fire escape. Who had sent them?

Steve stirred awake in a modest room. Sunlight crept in from the glass roof. He heard voices in a nearby room. He groaned, cradling his head as he climbed out of bed and into the next room.  
"How nice of you to join us." Bruce Banner said softly. He had his usual sense of zen about him. Steve glanced from Natasha to Bruce.  
"Sobered up yet?" Natasha asked.  
Steve felt his cheeks redden, "I don't remember much."  
"Convenient." Natasha said with a playful glint in her eye. Bruce glanced from Natasha to Steve.  
"I hear you're a free agent these days, Steve." Bruce said.  
"Something like that." Steve replied, his eyes drifted to Natasha. She smiled at him.  
"You nearly sabotaged the work we've been carrying out this past few months."  
"What work?"  
"Whoever followed you was monitoring you in hopes of you leading them to Romanoff."  
"Why?"  
"When I spoke out, a lot of powerful people recognised me from our... past engagements. Professional and personal." She watched Steve clench his jaw at the thought.  
"There's one guy in particular, he's been hiring the brightest minds from Princeton and they seem to be disappearing."  
"You think he's up to some thing?"  
"Yeah, but whatever it is, it's bad enough for him to want to fasten up any loose ends. Which I'm one of." Natasha said casually.  
"Last night, was an attempted assassination of Romanoff." Bruce interjected, "They had no leads, until you turned up at her hotel room." Natasha glanced at Steve.  
"Speaking of, why exactly did you ... turn up at her hotel room?"  
Steve gave Bruce a defensive scoff.  
"That's irrelevant."  
"Touchy." Natasha quipped. Steve glared at her. Seeking her out was a bad idea, he forgot she knew how to push his buttons.  
"Look you want me to go, I'll head back to D.C., it'll be like I was never here. And you two can carry on your off-the-radar operations."  
"We want you to stay. Work with us. We could use more man power."  
"Man power for what?" Steve asked. Natasha turned to Bruce, and asked softly, "Bruce, can you show him?"  
Bruce nodded, he headed out of the room. While they waited for him, Steve glanced at Natasha.  
"About last night..."  
"It's shame you don't remember much." Natasha said, cutting him off. He studied her. She knew he remembered. They both knew. But neither said a thing.  
"I was drunk."  
Natasha nodded, "It's definitely a first. I don't think I've ever seen you drunk."  
"Look, Natasha... I have feelings for you."  
"You're a hot blooded man, so no surprises there. Don't beat yourself up about it."  
She said flippantly, doing her best to hide how flustered she felt. She brushed past him, but he grabbed her arm.  
"No, not like that. I mean, like that. But... can we get a coffee some time?"  
Natasha studied him, her eyes sad and her voice firm, "you don't want that."  
"I do." He declared. Before they could continue, Bruce returned to the room, he set the file down on a desk in front of Steve.  
"All you need to know is in there. Name's Keller Harrison, he's a war vet, worked as a medic in the field. Last year he was designing a serum to improve focus in combat, but it went wrong." Steve glanced through the file. Natasha turned the kettle on and poured three coffees.  
"Thirty six soldiers died. He was dishonourably discharged from the army. Now he's set up a lab on a small island off the coast of Hawaii, and has it highly guarded. It wouldn't be a problem normally. His business is his business. But civilians are going missing in the area, then turning up dead."  
"What's the mission?"  
"To gain access to his database, investigate what's going on in his labs and if it's connected to the missing civilians."  
Natasha studied Steve, "they've got snipers, reinforced concrete walls, heat-tracking cameras and armed guards."  
"Sounds like fun." Steve replied. Bruce took a cup of coffee from Natasha, the two exchanged a warm smile.  
Steve's eyes drifted back to the file.  
"When do we check this place out?"  
"Tonight." Natasha said, "I'm gonna take a shower, guys." With that, she left the two men alone in the room. Bruce and Steve glanced at each other.  
"She's a good woman." Bruce said.  
"I know." Steve answered, "She's better than she realises."  
Bruce nodded.  
"How're you doing? Anger management going well?"  
Bruce shot him a look. Steve smirked.  
"It's not so bad, I avoid people who piss me off, and that means I get to avoid the bigger greener side of me."  
"But you're managing alright, though?"  
"Yeah. It's sort of like not feeding an addiction, you know? It's inherent in you, the more you do it, the easier it becomes to do it again. So I'm working on it. I'm a work in progress."  
"Aren't we all."  
"How's your health? Want me to do a check up? Make sure everything's working okay? No sudden bouts of aging etc?"  
Steve nodded, "I'd appreciate that. I feel ok. In fact, for the first time in a long time, I feel different."  
"Is it Romanoff?"  
"Did she say something?"  
"About you? No. Sorry pal. But it takes a lot for an old fashioned ninety five year old gentleman like yourself, to turn up drunk and unannounced at a young lady's home."  
"When you put it like that, it sounds bad."  
Bruce grinned, he stood up, "come on, follow me to my in-house infirmary, where all the magic happens."  
As they headed down the hall, Steve couldn't help but glance in the direction of the bathroom. He could hear the water running. His heart thumped in his chest. He couldn't believe he let himself show up like that the night before. It was irresponsible of him. And outright wrong. He owed her an apology, for almost jeopardising her mission as well as her life. Let alone, thinking he could just walk into her life and kiss her.  
She deserved better than that. And he knew it. 


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Hey guys, firstly, thank you for reading, and reviewing. It's much appreciated. I just wanted to clarify that this story doesn't use The Winter Soldier spoilers. The film is alluded to but in very small ways. I was told by a reader that the U.S doesn't get the movie until the 4th, so this fic will be mindful of that. Anyway, speech over. I hope that clears some things up for you guys.

Chapter Two

"Bruce is a nice guy." Natasha explained as she crouched behind a pillar. Steve was crouched beside the pillar six feet behind her.  
"I'm just surprised you looked him up." He claimed.  
"I tried the whole finding myself thing, but I guess saving the world is more my thing." Natasha confessed.  
"You're pretty good at it." Steve whispered.  
Natasha fought the urge to smile.  
"You're not too bad yourself."  
"Urgh, there's a leak right above me." Steve complained as water dripped down onto his head.  
"Make sure it doesn't land on your earpiece, or you'll fry it. And experience temporary agony and disorientation."  
"Noted." Steve said, casting a wary look up at the dripping water.  
Steady footsteps approached up ahead, Natasha gestured at Steve to stay put. Natasha peaked around the corner, she saw an armoured guard in bullet proof gear from head to toe. His eyes were hidden behind goggles, presumably state of the art heat signature detecting goggles. Which was probably why he was headed their way. They wore wet suits that lowered their body temperatures enough to fit in with the cool basement. However, the pipes in the basements would occasionally give out a burst of scolding steam. The guard was just doing his rounds. What struck Natasha was the rigidity with which the guard carried himself. As if there was nothing human about him.  
She stepped back into the shadows as he passed her. Then she crept up behind him as he walked past Steve. Steve ducked back into the shadows too, momentarily forgetting about the water dripping from the ceiling.  
_Drip. _  
A fizzle and an "Argh!" The guard spun round and aimed his rifle at Steve, who clutched his ear in agony as he pulled out his earpiece and dropped it. Before the guard could shoot, Natasha slammed the guard's gun into the pillar, Steve ducked.  
The gun fell to the floor in front of him. The guard shoved Natasha into a wall, his inhuman strength came as a surprise. Steve went for the gun, but the guard pinned him up against the wall. He clutched Steve's neck tightly. Steve slammed his knee into the guard's groin, but he barely flinched.  
Natasha whipped out a black wire and garrotted the guard, pulling him off Steve. Who flinched in agony, his ear pounded, the pain didn't just surge through him, it screamed. He touched the warm fluid dripping down his cheek. It was blood. Dizziness over took him. He shook it off and tried to steady himself. The last thing any of them needed was to have a man down so early on in the mission.  
"Bruce—we have a problem." Natasha warned.  
"Correction-_you_ have a problem...I've disabled the cameras. You've got four and a half minutes before they notice." Bruce replied. The guard slammed an elbow into her abdomen. She grunted.  
"_Bruce! _These guards are on something." She managed as the guard barely buckled against the wire. He should have suffocated by now.  
"Rogers, you alright?" She asked, despite struggling against the guard herself. Steve leant against the wall, cradling an ear and looking puzzled.  
Natasha sighed.  
"Never send a man to do a woman's job." She muttered before elbowing the guard in a pressure point in his neck, instantly disarming him and making him collapse. He went down with a thud.

"Bruce, Rogers' earpiece is fried." Natasha smirked. Steve scowled.  
"What did he say?" Steve muttered groggily.  
"He said good work captain." Natasha glanced at the dark basement. Computers whirred in the darkness. There were two obvious routes, then a door to the far side of the room. The air was cooler here. Frosty enough to send a chill down their spines.  
"Hacking the database now." Natasha announced as she plugged a flash drive into the main computer.  
"Do you hear that?" Steve asked. Natasha didn't answer, her eyes were glued to the computer screen as files loaded onscreen.  
"Operation Doomsday." Natasha said.  
"One day, I wanna see an evil mastermind name a project, 'operation lilly.'" Bruce quipped through his earpiece. Natasha smirked and rolled her eyes. Her expression grew serious as she continued to read.  
"I'm downloading the data now, but Bruce you were right. This is bad. Really bad... Are you reading any of this?"

Bruce sat in the storage unit in the east wing of the base's fortress. He had hooked a tablet up to the mercenary's servers. Everything Natasha was downloading was zooming rapidly past his eyes. He only caught the odd word or code.  
"Something about engineering instinct? Doesn't explain why he needs such a big base. It's like a maze. Once you're in, it's almost impossible to get out."  
He stared at the computer screen, concerned, "Natasha, new plan... Don't cross the electric fence. Get whatever data you can from where you are, then get out. This place was designed to harbour something. Something big. And probably bad. We don't have the gun power or numbers to take down whatever he's keeping further in the base."

"Ok." Natasha answered, she wondered what was being harboured.  
"Romanoff." Steve said, his voice was firmer than before, "You need to see this."  
Natasha completed downloading the data, then unplugged her flashdrive and joined Rogers.  
The two peered through a small glass panel in the door, what Natasha saw made her eyes widen.  
"Oh my god..." Natasha managed.  
Steve's eyes scanned the room full of guards hooked up to IVs containing luminously green fluid.  
"Bruce... I have a bad feeling about this. Bruce...?"

Bruce placed both hands in the air, and studied the four guards, "I think I took a wrong turn... I was looking for some hula girls... I like hula girls."  
A guard aimed his rifle at Bruce, "you don't want to do that." Bruce said, unphased. The guard shot Bruce. A strange sting filled his neck. Bruce pulled out the dart, he studied it then gave the guard a puzzled look. His knees gave way from beneath him.  
"Oh, this is bad..." He deduced as his eyes fluttered shut.

Alarms blared throughout the fortress, Natasha turned to Steve, "Banner is radio silent."  
"We need to get out of here."  
"No. We can't just leave him." Natasha declared.  
"Natasha, we barely took down one guard, we can't take on several. Bruce is a big boy, he can handle himself. We'll come back for him."  
Natasha studied him, wondering if she trusted him. Steve stared at her, "I wouldn't lie to you. I promise. But right now, we need to get out of here."  
He took her by the arm and sprinted down the tunnel. A guard rounded the corner, Steve punched the guard hard in the face, it was enough to make the guard stall for a beat. But that was all they needed. Natasha and Steve hurried toward the exit route. Within seconds, gunshots rang through the air. Steve pulled Natasha closer and fell back, covering her from stray bullets. Natasha cast a guilty glance back at the basement, they were leaving Bruce behind. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

Wearing a gasmask, Keller strolled into the room where Banner was being kept in a cage. The cage was constructed of heavily reinforced metals that even Bruce Banner's greener alter ego couldn't destroy. Not yet anyway. Bruce was sat in the centre of the cage, he was breathing in and out, slowly. Soothing himself.  
"I thought scientists were meant to be smart." Keller quipped. Bruce cast tight smile, "I can say the same to you." Bruce said, he furrowed his brow. The air tasted odd.  
"I'm just bemused that you walked right into the trap I laid out for you. We had this planned right down to the very location." Keller barked a cruel laugh. Bruce studied him.  
"It's a shame your friends fled, we hadn't accounted for them, you see. If they stuck by you, you stood a chance at getting out of here."  
"I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself."  
"Of course you can." Keller's voice was muffled behind the mask, but Bruce could still understand every word Keller said. He had a sharp accent, rigid with his pronunciations.  
"What do you want?"  
"To see what happens." Keller said, his expression darkened.  
Bruce gave him a confused look. Keller raised a hand and gestured the number two at the camera. Suddenly, a hissing noise became audible. Bruce tried to conceal his alarm. Within seconds, Bruce felt a pang of agony seer through his nasal passage and into his head and his lungs. He forced himself to take deeper breaths, as he tried to keep his cool.  
"A normal person is either an aggressive zombie by now or dead."  
"What's in the air?" Bruce managed, with his voice drenched in pain. Keller smiled as Bruce's skintone began to alter.  
"No, no..._NO!" _Bruce grunted, gritting his teeth he clenched his fists. Doing everything he could to keep the beast caged.  
"Don't worry, your green friend can't escape the cage. Not yet. I made sure of it. He won't go anywhere until he's ready."  
"Ready for... what?" Bruce managed, the final word was more of a growl than a word. And then it happened, as though Bruce himself was the cage for the beast, the beast broke out, expanding throughout Bruce. The large green monster snarled at Keller then ran at the cage bars. The bars didn't even dent.  
"It's nice to finally meet you." Keller declared.  
The hulk's roar echoed through the room.

"They set us up, Cap." Natasha declared as she paced back and forth in the humble house Bruce had been staying in. Steve held an ice pack to his forehead and cradled his ear with his shoulder. "What would he want with Bruce?"  
"You saw the guards, it was like they were under some kind of mind control."  
"You think they wanna control the hulk? Even Bruce can't control him."  
"But what if Keller can... " Natasha trailed off. She had experienced the greener side of Bruce and it was a force to be reckoned with. She had barely gotten out alive during their last fight.  
"It's my fault. I found the trail, I pressured Bruce to take the bait."  
"You didn't know it was bait at the time." Steve argued her corner. She glanced at him.  
"He took me in, and look where I got him."  
"Bruce isn't an idiot. He can handle himself, and he's got us. Right?"  
"And what good are we? What good am _I?_" She stressed the last word, Steve noted the dent in her otherwise impenetrable armour.  
"We will find Bruce, and take Keller down." Steve promised.  
"How?"  
"We figure out what Keller wants from him."  
"And how do we do that?"  
Steve studied her, she was putting her jacket on and headed for the door as he spoke, "We read through the trail they left us. We go over what we know. We take it from there." She opened the door, Steve frowned, "Where are you going?"  
"I need to think."  
"Think here."  
"I need to think alone."  
Steve flinched, "Look, Romanov. I'm sorry I kissed you. I crossed a line. And I'm sorry. But I can promise you I'm only here to help. That's it. Work with me." He asked softly. She studied him, "We need to bring in reinforcements. We can't do this alone."  
"What kind of reinforcements?"

Steve Rogers stared at the giant building, with the 'STARK INDUSTRIES' lettering hanging overhead. He sighed. Tony Stark had it all, along with several bad habits. But it was Romanov's idea to seek his help and he'd respect that.  
He followed Natasha into the elevator, she studied him then looked away. There was an awkward silence as she glanced over at him again. Steve caught her watching him, she cleared her throat.  
"How's your head?" She asked.  
"Better, thanks."  
"Drinking doesn't suit you." Romanov said. He studied her, he sensed the tinge of disappointment in her voice.  
"Then I'll make sure I don't do it again." He promised, with ease.  
"Why did you do it in the first place?"  
"I needed to unplug, get out of my head for a bit. You ever feel that way?"  
"Always." She said with a slight smile. He noticed the way she narrowed her eyes at him, she had the sort of gaze that asked a thousand questions at once without her needing to say a thing. Something was up with him. And she would wait for him to tell her.  
The elevator doors reeled open, and they stepped into Tony Stark's penthouse suite. Tony was toying with a new gadget, "welcome to the jungle...we have fun and games." He quipped, "Agent Romanov." He said in a low, sultry, tone. Natasha tried not to roll her eyes, as he kissed her hand.  
"And...Steve." He said, with the faintest air of disdain. "We should have an arm wrestle. Me in my suit, you in yours. What say you?" the playful twinkle in his eye was hard to resist if you were a woman, and envy inducing if you were a man.  
"You haven't changed much." Steve said, with matching disdain.  
"I didn't know I needed to..." Tony turned to Natasha, "so who's kidnapped our big friendly giant?"  
"Keller Harrison."  
"Jarvis, look up Keller Harrison, and then have what you find emailed to my PC."  
"Yes, Mr Stark." The robotic voice answered.  
"How's Pepper?" Natasha asked, eyeing a framed photograph of Pepper on Tony's desk.  
"She's amazing. She's Pepper." Tony said with a smug smile. He brimmed with pride over the love of his life. He poured three drinks.  
"Not for me." Steve interjected.  
"Not for you." Tony quipped in return, and downed both shot glasses, then handed the third one to Natasha. Steve clenched his jaw at Tony.  
"And how're you?" Natasha asked Tony.  
"I love that you care. I'm good. It's been pretty peaceful on my front. I had to attend a few birthday parties and mingle, for the president. It nearly killed me. Boredom, I mean. Not the seven year olds at the parties. But, enough about me...what's new with you?" Tony asked, turning his gaze to Natasha and studying her intently. He regarded her with the same marvelling eyes with which he regarded all his experiments.  
"You found Mr Right, yet?" Natasha didn't say a word. Tony was sharp enough to catch on, "Ooh... scandalous. Do I know him?"  
"Quit it, Tony." Natasha said, before downing her shot.  
She slid the shot glass across the desk, Tony caught it with ease and took it over to the bar.  
"So I've got Grandpa Stars and Stripes stood in my office, alongside the spy who named and shamed half of congress...How serious is the situation with Banner?"  
"Very." Natasha said.  
"She thinks Keller is trying to control the hulk."  
"People always wanna control that poor lug. I say, they make him join wrestlemania and just have fun with it..."  
"He's not an animal in a zoo, Tony. He's our friend."  
"The friend Romanov sought out when she needed to disappear." Tony said pointedly. Natasha threw Tony a warning look.  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Nothing... you just came up a bit short in comparison to Bruceypie." Steve felt Natasha's eyes on him. He headed for the door.  
"I'll be downstairs, Romanov."  
Natasha nodded. Once they were left alone, Natasha glared at Tony.  
"Don't be so hard on him."  
"Before you fled, you asked me to keep tabs on him to make sure he's okay. I'm just having some fun. Although you ought to ask Mr Perfect about how he's been sleeping. Jarvis tells me his vitals keep flaring up."  
"Night terrors?"  
"Or flashbacks. A guy with his abilities ought to take better care in facing his demons."  
"You mean with Bucky?"  
"I mean with whatever he hasn't told you about."  
Natasha's eyes clouded over, "what do you know?"  
"Not my place to say."  
She nodded, "Keller's men were drugged up on some thing. It made them stronger, but completely... inhuman. They were like drones. It was weird."  
"You think Keller's gonna turn the Hulk into a giant docile drone that does his bidding?"  
"More then that, I think Keller's going to wreak havoc if he succeeds. And that's bad news for everyone involved."  
"I'll help however I can. Mi casa su casa..." Tony announced. Natasha nodded, grateful. Tony loaded up the computer, as he did, he cast a glance at Natasha Romanov. She was absolutely gorgeous. Partly why she had been such a successful spy.  
"Did you and Banner ever...you know..."  
"What?" Natasha asked incredulously.  
"I'm just curious about whether he turns when he...you know."  
Natasha glared at him.  
"Oh don't be so offended, you're a pretty woman...he's a big strong lug...you're saying nothing happened there? Or just nothing you want our captain America to know about?"  
Natasha held his gaze, "there's nothing going on between me and Steve."  
"Then why did you ask me to look out for him."  
"Because he's a good guy, and gets in over his head a lot."  
Tony felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth, "careful Romanov, that sounds a lot like concern." 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Steve walked over to the bar in the penthouse suite Tony Stark had offered him as living quarters while they worked on the Banner case. Natasha was probably still in Tony's office. Tony was a good guy, but he didn't like the way Tony looked at Natasha. Natasha was gorgeous. He knew, she knew and any one with half decent vision knew. What broke his heart was how brilliant she was, but how inescapable her past was. Something guys like Tony Stark would never let her forget. He glanced at the various drinks on offer, then changed his mind. He had given Natasha his word that he wouldn't drink again. His mind wondered back to the Banner case. His concern wasn't just Banner, it was Keller's long term plan. What did he want Bruce for...? What did he have his eyes on?

His eyes flickered to the clock. It was two in the morning, and he hadn't heard Natasha's door open or close. She was still with Tony. He didn't like that. He knew nothing would happen, hopefully. But watching her banter with men as they salivated over her had recently become one of his least favourite things to do. It was why he left so abruptly earlier that day. It was also why he'd ignored her messages to join him and Tony all night. He pulled off his shirt and slumped onto the bed. He shut his eyes in hopes of a peaceful night's sleep.  
Like clockwork it happened again, his heart began hammering, his breathing grew shallow, visions of Peggy, Bucky, the past. The anguish of waking up to a new world. He jolted upright. He shook his head, he felt his body shivering, but he was warm. His eyes flickered to the clock, it was now three in the morning. He must have fallen asleep.  
A knock at the door got his attention. He walked over to the door and pulled it open, Natasha looked him up and down. She smiled at his muscular torso. He began to feel self-conscious.  
"Don't you know how to use your cell?"  
"I do. It's one of the first things they taught me when they woke me up." He answered sincerely. She gave him a bemused look and walked over to his cell phone. It sat on the bar top. She flicked through it, finding her messages unopened.  
"I'm not used to being ignored by a guy." She said, her eyes flickered to him.  
"All done with Tony?" Steve asked with a tight smile. Natasha felt the smallest tug of a smile at the corner of her lips.  
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous."  
"It's three in the morning." Steve said, "I'm tired, grouchy." He explained. Lying wasn't his strong suit, and they both knew it.  
Natasha's playful expression faded as she approached him, he didn't move. She placed a hand on his chest, her eyes shot to his. He gazed at her.  
"You're shivering." She said. He placed his hand on top of hers. She could feel his racing heart beneath her palm, he knew because he could feel it through her hand. He pulled her hand away.  
"Yeah, it's nothing. What did you and Tony find?" He enquired, doing his best to change the topic and make the situation feel less intimate. His cheeks burned red. But Natasha was too concerned with his shivers to be distracted.  
"What's going on with you? Are you okay?"  
"Yeah. It's uh... It's nothing new. Just ... it's hard for my head and heart to adjust some times... to the new world. You know?"  
She studied him, "wanna talk about it?" She asked, walking toward him again, he froze in his spot. She walked right past him and perched on the edge of the big bed. He just watched her for a moment. She patted the bed, gesturing him to join her. He cleared his throat, "No, I'm good here. Thank you, uh..." She raised an eyebrow. He struggled to keep his cool.  
"You should go— It's late. And we need to sleep."  
"What're you so afraid of?" She asked, with a slight smile on her lips, "am I the first woman to invite you to bed?"  
He glared at her, she was only joking but he hated her for it. Mostly because of how transparent he was. He ushered her over to the door.  
"Aw, are you blushing?" She grinned, triumphant. He placed a hand at her waist and pulled open the door, and ushered her into the doorway. She turned and faced him, "Cap.." she said softly. He looked down at her, expectantly. She placed her hands on either of his stubble-kissed cheeks and planted her lips on his. He was paralysed. She pressed her body up against his as the kiss deepened, her hands drifting around his neck, pulling him closer. He gingerly let his hands trail at her waist. She pulled out from the kiss and looked up at him. His heart hammered in his chest. He just gazed at her, dumbfounded. It was as if his dormant heart had been resuscitated then set alight. She pulled away, letting her hands slide back down his chest. Steve studied her, was she blushing?  
"Good night." She said, barely above a whisper.  
"G-g-good night." He managed. She left him astounded in her wake. He hadn't felt this way before. Not with Peggy. Not with anyone.  
Natasha shut her bedroom door behind her, and pressed her back against the wall. A coy but playful smile lingered on her lips, she couldn't believe what she just did. But he needed to know where she stood, despite the banter she had with the others. She wanted him. He looked like he had been hit by a train. Her smile broke into a grin, he was adorable. For the briefest moment, she didn't care about his pristine history and her dark past, for the briefest moment, she felt happy. 


End file.
